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The Stick

While living in Japan, spiritual seeker, author, and entrepreneur William Segal sent this aerogram to his wife in New York City to illustrate his experience with the kyosaku stick, or “Zen stick.”

William Segal

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“About the stick at meditation: It is also used to check on your position and the job of checking is very serious. After each blow, the monk makes a prayer gesture. I have ducked my brother guide and get along by myself, but he will find me soon . . .”

From the book A Voice at the Borders of Silence by William Segal with Marielle Bancou-Segal, edited by Mark Magill, © 2003 by Marielle Bancou-Segal. Reprinted with permission of The Overlook Press.

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